Box Office: Barbie Hits ₦39m, òrìṣà Tops Oppenheimer with ₦27m

Over the weekend, Nigerian audiences witnessed a huge movie battle at the Box office.

Greta Gerwig’s ridiculously pink Barbie, Christopher Nolan’s bleak historical drama Oppenheimer, and Odunlade Adekola’s òrìṣà  debuted all at once on Friday, July 21, 2023, making for an epic showdown.

The first two seemingly had the upper hand, backed by global campaigns and the luxury of being cultural touchstones, while the local production appeared to be overshadowed by the Barbenheimer noise.

However, the recently released figures by the cinema exhibitors association of Nigeria (CEAN) say differently.

Data from ticket sales  show that the domestic audience went all out for the beloved doll and Yoruba epic over Nolan’s dark tragedy.

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Barbie opened with ₦39 million, while òrìṣà surprisingly surpassed Oppenheimer with ₦27. 58 million. The latter came in at fourth place with only ₦17 million.

Òrìṣà also made and continues to make an effort with a great premiere in Lagos, followed by smaller ones in nearby Yoruba cities. These have all paid off, as the indigenous title is now the highest-grossing opening film in Nollywood and the biggest epic opening of the year.

Meanwhile, mission impossible: Dead reckoning part one, which opened with ₦78 million last week, is holding steady in the face of the #orisabarbieheimer competition.

Now in its second week, the latest installment in the popular tom cruise-led franchise has earned an additional ₦31. 6 million for a total of ₦118. 9 million.

In fifth place, we have another Nigerian movie, love, lust & other things, which has now made ₦27. 5 million in three weeks.